The #MeToo movement took down hundreds of powerful men. This year, Kevin Spacey, Harvey Weinstein, Les Moonves and Matt Lauer went down, and the movement washed 200 powerful men accused of sexually harassing women out jobs.
But, two years later, some fears about the movement seem to have been realized. The #MeToo movement continues to have repercussions...apparently negative ones for women.
It may be costing women opportunities and causing workplace segregation.
A University of Houston study found some companies' reaction to the movement has been to segregate women in the workplace. 27 percent of men surveyed said they avoid one-on-one meetings with women.
"I could believe it," says UNO Business professor Mark Rosa."You could walk out of a room and somebody could turn around and say 'This person inappropriately touched me or there was an advance' and no one's there to corroborate anyone else's comments."
60 percent of male managers surveyed say they're scared of being alone with women at work...that getting too close to women at work can put their career and reputation (both professional and personal) at risk."
"I could see somebody saying 'No, that's too close for comfort. I need my career too badly. I need to keep working and I don't want that hanging over my head'," says Rosa.
He says some companies may solve the problem by segregating women in the workplace.
"Under these circumstances, I could see a business putting people in different rooms, creating an environment where nobody could possibly have an errant stare or something like that that would put everybody in a lot of hot water."
And, he says some companies are reluctant to hire women for jobs that require travel or close interaction...or not hiring women at all. In particular, almost 20 percent of male managers surveyed said they would avoid hiring attractive women.
"Isn't that something! That's somebody that's doing the hiring, evaluating whether somebody is too good-looking to work, judging somebody's looks that way and applying that standard. That's incredible."
But, Rosa says it is an unfortunate result of #MeToo. In general, men have become cautious, if not wary and afraid of working with the opposite sex.
Harvard Business Review published the results of the research, performed by University of Houston Bauer College of Business professor, Dr. Leanne Atwater.
"If you're lacking in integrity, and you're kind of sexist, your answer to this is OK, just keep out, and that will solve the problem," Dr. Atwater said. "We won't hire them. We won't include them. Then we don't have to worry about it."